Rino Albertarelli

(8 June 1908 - 21 September 1974, Italy)

Italian cartoonist and illustrator Rino Albertarelli was born in 1908 in Cesena. After several jobs, he went to Milan when he was twenty years old. There he met Antonio Rubino, who gave him the opportunity to work for the children's weekly Il Balilla. After military service, Albertarelli began working with several publishers, like Paravia and Vallardi. His work also appeared in the magazines 'Viaggi e Avventure' and 'Cartoccino dei Piccoli'. In 1936 he published his first continuing comic stories: 'I Pirati del Pacifico' for Argentovivo, and for L'Audace, 'Capitan Foruna' and 'Big Bill'.

Albertarelli's most famous comics are 'Kit Carson', 'Gino e Gianni', 'Baghongi il Pagliaccio' ('Baghongi the Clown'), 'Il Dottor Faust', 'Mefistofele', 'Un Gentiluomo di 16 Anni', and 'Gioietta Portafortuna'. They were all published in the large-circulation weeklies Topolino and Paperino. An important series of Albertarelli's gouache drawings were published by Dardo in 1965. Rino Albertarelli continued his work until his death on 21 September 1974.